"Wait until just before dark to bait your limb hooks," Jones advised. "If you bait them in the middle of the day, gar will steal your bait. Bait these hooks with live bream to target yellow cats. Limb hooks always catch the biggest fish."

Jones' biggest yellow from the Cahaba weighed 35 pounds, and his biggest blue weighed 19 pounds.

Current fishing conditions on the Cahaba River are available by calling Richard Stocks at Central Alabama Farmers Co-Op at (334) 874-9083, extension 111.

Access to the river is available at ramps located in Centerville, Sprott and Cahaba, which is just above the junction with the Alabama River. Most anglers, though, slide their johnboats down the riverbank at highway bridges in the stretches where they want to fish.

WHEELER LAKE
Wheeler Lake is legendary for growing monster catfish. Alabama anglers have caught fish from the lake that have set state, line-class and world records.

Stretching for nearly 86 miles on the Tennessee River between Lake Guntersville to the east and Wilson Lake to the west, Wheeler covers 68,300 acres and is our second-largest reservoir. Wheeler's habitat changes significantly as it approaches Decatur, where riverine bluffs recede into main-lake flooded flats. Add the fertility of the Tennessee River to this combination and the result is a world-class fishery.

Though Wheeler offers anglers an opportunity to catch cats weighing more than 100 pounds, not everyone prefers the giant fish.

"It's exciting to catch big cats, and I do occasionally catch fish that will not fit into my livewell," said retired Marine Corps Sgt. Major Bill Hancock of Huntsville, "but I prefer to catch pan-sized fish."

While fishing for 2-pounders, Hancock occasionally lands big fish weighing between 40 and 57 pounds, and he frequently catches five fish a day weighing more than 10 pounds. The fish are a mix of blues and channels.

Hancock has two different methods of fishing, depending on whether he is alone or not. If it's the former, he fishes with jugs -- only with a colorful twist. If it is the latter, he concentrates on drifting near the shoreline and fishing with rod and reel.

"When I am by myself," Hancock said, "I usually use floats. It's the most relaxing and most productive method for catching catfish, especially in the summer. On a warm day, it's nice to drift down the river and listen to sports on the radio. You have all these floats around you, and every so often one of them stands on end."

Catfish jugs can be made from nearly anything that floats, and like fishing corks come in a variety of shapes, the most sensitive being the long, narrow quill. Hancock's floats closely resemble that type cork and are made from swim noodles, which are approximately 5 feet long and 3 inches in diameter.

"These floats are so sensitive," Hancock reported, "that you'll know when they drift though a school of white bass. Suddenly, eight or 10 stand on end and then lay back down. When you see that, you need to re-bait, as they will have taken your chicken liver."

Hancock rigs the floats, which he finds along the shore, by making a cut to the center and about 2 1/2 feet long. A line is then tied at the mid-point and placed in the cut so the line exits at the end of the float. After closing the cut with duct tape, Hancock attaches his hook and sinker four to five feet below the float.

"I've had a lot of success with the floats," said Hancock. "I've caught fish weighing up to 20 pounds -- any bigger than that and you may not see your rig again. Since they are so sensitive and visible, they keep your interest.

"When fishing with friends, though, we use rods because I enjoy watching them catch fish."